The Outsiders-- Symbols and Symbolic Poetry
Do you recognize any of the following symbols? Do you know what they stand for? Put your
guess or answer on the line following each one.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
What did Corvairs and Mustangs represent to the greasers?
a. The Socs’ contempt for the greasers
b. The power of the Socs
c. The wealth of the Socs’ families
Reason for choice:
What did the Confederate soldiers in Gone with the Wind represent to Johnny?
a. A kind of gallantry on Dally’s part
b. The evils of war
c. A fear of authority and death
Reason for choice:
What did their long, well-oiled hair symbolize to the greasers?
a. Pride in their good looks
b. Dread of barbers
c. Their identity as a unique group of people
Reason for choice:
Identify what each of the following things may represent.
Bob’s rings—
Soda’s horse Mickey Mouse—
Sunsets—
Two-bit’s Switchblade—
Others?—
Nothing Gold Can Stay – Robert Frost
Identify what the italicized words in the poem represent or symbolize.
Nature’s first green is gold
____________________________
Her hardest hue to hold
____________________________
Her early leaf’s a flower
____________________________
But only so an hour
_____________________________
Then leaf subsides to leaf
_____________________________
So Eden sank to grief
____________________________
So dawn goes down to day _____________________________
Nothing gold can stay.
_____________________________
Identify two metaphors in this poem.
How do the metaphors help give meaning to the poem?
What is nature’s first green?
To what do you think the poet is referring when he says “Nothing gold can stay”?
What kind of mood is this poem expressing: happiness, sadness, fear, anxiety, etc.?
How do the nature references apply to human beings?
What is this poem really about?
Couplet Poem
Directions: You will complete an eight-line closed couplet. Using Robert Frost’s poem as a
reference, you will choose one of the symbols found in The Outsiders to use as the subject of
the poem. You must include at least one metaphor or simile.
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature's first green is gold, (a)
Her hardest hue to hold. (a)
Her early leaf's a flower; (b)
But only so an hour. (b)
Then leaf subsides to leaf. (c)
So Eden sank to grief, (c)
So dawn goes down to day. (d)
Nothing gold can stay. (d)
- Robert Frost (1923)
A closed couplet is two lines of rhymed verse in which the meaning is made complete by the
end of the second rhyme. Rhyme Scheme: aabbccdd
Title of poem ___________________________________________ (repeat of last line)
(1)______________________________ is/are a symbol of ______________________
(2)___________________________________________________________________
(last word in line 2 must rhyme with last word in line 1)
(3)___________________________________________________________________
(4)___________________________________________________________________
(last word in line 4 must rhyme with last word in line 3)
(5)___________________________________________________________________
(6)___________________________________________________________________
(last word in line 6 must rhyme with last word in line 5)
(7)___________________________________________________________________
(8)___________________________________________________________________
(last word in line 8 must rhyme with last word in line 7)
The Outsiders-- Symbols and Symbolic Poetry
Do you recognize any of the following symbols? Do you know what they stand for? Put your
guess or answer on the line following each one.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
What did Corvairs and Mustangs represent to the greasers?
a. The Socs’ contempt for the greasers
b. The power of the Socs
c. The wealth of the Socs’ families
Reason for choice:
What did the Confederate soldiers in Gone with the Wind represent to Johnny?
a. A kind of gallantry on Dally’s part
b. The evils of war
c. A fear of authority and death
Reason for choice:
What did their long, well-oiled hair symbolize to the greasers?
a. Pride in their good looks
b. Dread of barbers
c. Their identity as a unique group of people
Reason for choice:
Identify what each of the following things may represent.
Bob’s rings—
Soda’s horse Mickey Mouse—
Sunsets—
Two-bit’s Switchblade—
Others?—